Pennucci announces home-heavy slate for upcoming season presented by BrightRidge

ETSU baseball fans will have ample opportunities to catch the new-look Bucs at Thomas Stadium this upcoming year, with 33 of ETSU’s 55 games taking place in Johnson City. Furthermore, 21 of ETSU’s first 29 games will be home contests.

With a large contingency of newcomers who are expected to compete for playing time right away, Pennucci said he believes fans will be able to rally around this year’s team.

“After losing 10 seniors from last year’s team, there are a lot of new faces on the Bucs this year hungry for an opportunity to compete,” Pennucci said.

Six marquee matchups highlight ETSU’s 2019 slate against opponents from the Southeastern Conference and Athletic Coast Conference — including two home-and-home series with Virginia Tech and Tennessee. ETSU will host Tennessee on March 19 and Virginia Tech April 10.

The Bucs have four midweek road contests against perennial household names, beginning with the Hokies on Feb. 19. ETSU will also travel to Clemson (Feb. 26), Vanderbilt (March 6) and Tennessee (March 26).

“We have a fantastic opportunity to play against three teams from the ACC and SEC, in Virginia Tech, Clemson and Vanderbilt in our first three midweek road games. Amongst our other midweek competitors, our fans can look forward to us welcoming Virginia Tech and Tennessee to Thomas Stadium this year.”

Before those games, the Bucs begin the season with a trio non-conference home series against teams from near Pennucci’s former stomping grounds in New York — Iona (Feb. 15-17), Wagner (Feb. 22-24) and LIU Brooklyn (March 1-3). On March 16-17, the Bucs will also welcome ASUN member NJIT out of Newark, New Jersey.

“I’m excited to bring down some Northern teams to Johnson City,” Pennucci said. “They all have some really good coaches and solid programs that will help prepare us for Southern Conference play.”

The Bucs will only play one three-game road series prior to conference play as the team heads to Atlanta to face Georgia State March 8-10. ETSU’s final non-conference series will come on its off week from SoCon action when it hosts the Georgetown Hoyas March 29-31.

“Another strong addition to our schedule includes teams from the Big East and Sun Belt conferences in Georgetown and Georgia State,” Pennucci said. “Going down to Atlanta to compete against the Panthers should make for a competitive road trip. We’re also happy to host Big East opponent Georgetown on our SoCon bye week.”

This season, the Southern Conference schedule begins early for ETSU as it welcomes Western Carolina March 22-24. Later on, the Bucs will host Wofford (April 18-20) and UNCG (May 3-5) before closing the regular season versus Samford (May 16-18) at Thomas Stadium.

As a result, ETSU will travel to VMI (April 5-7), Furman (April 12-14), Mercer (April 26-28) and The Citadel (May 10-12) to complete its SoCon slate.

“After completing my first year in the Southern Conference, I realized that this league has a lot of great programs, coaches and players,” Pennucci said. "We prepare every day to compete in this league, knowing every weekend is a dog fight.”

Other home-and-home games for ETSU include midweek matchups against UNC Asheville (Home on March 27), Radford (Home on April 2) and Gardner-Webb (Home on May 14). The Bucs will also rekindle a rivalry against Appalachian State in Johnson City on April 16.

Game times and promotional schedules will be released at a later date. To see the full schedule, visit ETSUBucs.com and click the schedule tab on the baseball page.

Season tickets for the 2019 season are now available for as low as $75. Fans will have a chance to select their seat prior to the season at a date to be announced later.

To purchase season tickets for the upcoming season, please call the ETSU ticket office at 423-439-3878 or purchase online at ETSUBucs.com.

New for 2019 season ticket purchasers, ETSU baseball will hold a special “Season Ticket Experience Sweepstakes” where season ticket holders will be entered to win prizes and exciting experiences with the ETSU baseball team.

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